Tres Amigos: Can you say Nuclear? A play by Nathan Huntley and Gilbert Mercier

ON THE SCREEN A NEWS WIRE CAPTION ROLLS...DECEMBER 20 2013.

REPORTER (V.O)

The POTUS faces a growing global crisis.

News footage of people burning American FLAGS and pictures of the POTUS in Syria and Iran, other news reels of RIOTING over food shortages.

REPORTER (V.O)

The rhetoric is heating up, with Syria, Iran and North Korea on one

side, the US and Israel on the other. Today, in a joint statement

at the UN, Russia & China vow to respond to any attack against their

Asian and Middle Eastern allies.

A LAP TOP is opened. A card key is inserted, a RED BUTTON emerges from the keypad. A finger wearing a GOLD RING with a W set in diamonds, hesitates a moment, then pushes the RED BUTTON down.

REPORTER (V.O.)

With tensions this high, a single

shot could start WORLD WAR 3.....

The transmission is interrupted, on the screen we SEE the film melting and burning, we HEAR explosions and slowly..
FADE TO BLACK:

EXT.
From the darkness emerges a COCKROACH, it disappears into a DRAIN PIPE. We TRACK the bug down a title roll on the screen.
DECEMBER 21Th 2014

INT. UNDERGROUND ATOMIC SHELTER (UNDISCLOSED LOCATION)
In the bunker war room, DICK (Cheney) sits at a computer desk. RUMMY (Rumsfeld) looks through a periscope. W (Bush) stands, his back to them, looking out of a FAKE WINDOW displaying an image of a TROPICAL BEACH at sunset. The tension is palpable. The power blinks on and off throughout.

W

Number two, any contact?

DICK

Standing by.

W

Don, anything from the surface?

CUT TO:

EXT. RUMMY POV (PERISCOPE) OF A SURREAL DESERT SCENE

RUMMY (O.S.)

It's still a desert, Sir.

CUT TO:

INT. ATOMIC SHELTER

W

Dick, are you on line?

DICK

Still trying 43.

W

Rummy, what's the radiation level?

We PAN to see a DIAL: low, guarded, elevated, high and severe. The hand is on SEVERE.

RUMMY

High Sir!

W

Jesus! How long will it last?

RUMMY

I don't know... could be six days,

six weeks..I doubt six months.

W

DON, do you think I did the right

thing?...I'm a peace man. Damage to

human life bothers me. I...

The power goes out. A few emergency lights stay on but the room is near dark. Dick starts up a dim staircase.

DICK

So much for that. Anyone for lunch?

Post Scriptum: This is the episode one of a full play originally written for the screen. The authors ( Mercier/Huntley) are currently looking for interested filmmakers to do an animation ( flash or other) version of it. We are open to any suggestions, including an adaptation for theatre. Please contact us on this blog or at Nathanhuntley@sbcglobal.net.

Thanks.